A day in the life of a Camera Assistant…

…or rather a Camera Assistant’s Assistant.

Since beginning my internship at ITV, I’ve been dying to get downstairs in the studios and see how the TV that so many people love is so masterfully put together. And after months of emails and constant pestering (or persuasive suggestion as I like to think of it) I was finally given the opportunity to shadow the camera crews in The London Studios for the day. And what a day it was.

A day that began rather early…

 

For someone whose body clock had become used to thinking 1pm was an acceptable time to rise and shine on a weekday (thanks to three years of university! Oh the lie-ins…) starting work full time in London nine months ago came as quite a shock to my system. Having to be on a train by 7:45am seemed a ludicrous proposition, but a job at ITV was at the other end of my commute and, dribbling in front of strangers aside, sleeping on the train isn’t all that bad.

My day at The London Studios (TLS) started at 7:15am.

“7:15?” I remember thinking. I barely know what 7:15am looks like. When I roll out of bed at 7:00 on a normal day, I have to peel my eyelids open in order to see anything or take in my surroundings. Needless to say, when I awoke to see ‘5:10’ displayed on my alarm clock, I was not best pleased, much less aware of where I actually was.

Half an hour later and I was stood at the station. I say ‘stood’ but I very nearly collapsed with shock from seeing the sheer number of commuters who regularly travel at this time. I mean, here I was waiting for the 5:57 train, thinking to myself, “Its ok. It’ll all be worth it. At the end of this journey you get to see how TV is made. You might even be lucky enough to have your photo taken with Phillip Schofield” and yet here were dozens of suits all of whom apparently endured this ridiculousness day in day out, but without the joy of meeting the Silver Fox himself at the end of it. I remember thinking to myself, ‘these people are either utterly bonkers or they have the best jobs on the planet’. Then again, none of them looked like they were dressed for chocolate tasting at Nestle’s headquarters.

So one very sleepy train journey later, I arrived at the ITV tower strangely early to find it just as busy as it is at half past nine. It seems that on a daily basis there’s a whole section of the population going about their business and generally being productive whilst I am tucked up snugly in bed. Note to self: Get up earlier and do something productive. Yeah right.

At half seven a lovely Camera Assistant whom I shan’t name for fear of embarrassing him, was given the task of showing me around the lower building which houses the infamous London Studios - think HUGE nuclear bunkers with A LOT of lights hanging from the ceilings and what looks to be large weapons [TV cameras] scattered about). After taking a sneak peak at the sets for Lorraine and The Chase, we moseyed (I love a good mosey) on over to This Morning.

The Lorraine Studio, ready for filming to begin first thing in the morning

I’d never been in the This Morning studio before last week and was surprised not only at its small size, but also the number of ‘sets’ within the one room. The sofas are the central set area with most of the presenters’ links and interviews conducted there. On the other side of a studio wall resides ‘The Hub’ where Stephen Mulhurn works his magic (Ha! Magic. Get it? It probably helps if you know that he used to be a magician), then there’s the kitchen, live music/performance area, crime/soap features corner (forgive me for not remembering the correct names for each area) and the catwalkey thing that often features women in bikinis or oversized heels and, on this occasion, dogs of various sizes in couture pet clothes.

The beauty of shadowing a camera assistant for the day was that I got to learn all about how to use the rather complicated equipment used by the pros to film live TV. I’d share my new knowledge with you all but I wouldn’t want to confuse you. That and I I’m not sure I can remember what the cameras even looked like now, let alone how they worked!

Forget 'catwalk', it's all about the This Morning 'Dogwalk'

It surprised me to learn that the live music elements of shows such as This Morning are quite often ‘scripted’ meaning every cameraman/woman (5 in this case) has certain shots throughout the song that they will need to capture at specific points throughout the performance. In other words, the director knows exactly which camera he will cut to and when, as well as what shot each of those cameras will have at anyone time. Told you it was complicated. And that’s not even the technical part.

For the third and final rehearsal of the music section, I was given the opportunity to operate one of the cameras and try and stick to the script. I won’t tell you how it went, but I will tell you there was a lot of, “That’s supposed to be a close up” and “Pan out camera three! Pan out!” coming through my headset at me from the director. I think it’s safe to say my career as a professional camerawoman is a little way off yet.

After rehearsals, it was time to record the pre-show “coming up in 15 minutes” segment to be shown in the last break of Jeremy Kyle. Well, in comes Phillip Schofield (yes, I can confirm he is indeed a silver fox) closely followed by Kate Thornton (Holly Willoughby was ill with food poisoning, but it was quite a while later that Phillip actually admitted to us he’d recommended the restaurant).

With ease and professionalism, Phil and Kate shot the segment and then the countdown to the live show began, “eight minutes till we’re on air”. No problem. Make up ladies had been in and spruced up our presenters, the set was looking lovely, Kate was laughing at one of Phillip’s jokes and then the worst happened. Kate’s dress split. The zip broke and that was it. Split. All the way down the back.

Phillip and Kate reading their notes on the This Morning sofas

Ok, so maybe that wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened, but it sure was exciting with only seven minutes till we were live on air. And just when everyone was beginning to panic, everyone except Mr Schofield that is who seemed to find the whole thing hilarious, Kate casually pipes up, “Don’t worry, I’ve got another dress with me”. Wonderwoman or what?

A quick outfit change later and the show was on air. The crews are unbelievable. The floor manager, Tim, could run this show with his eyes closed and the same could be said for the rest for the camera operators (although with the amount of cables and leads running all over the place, it probably wouldn’t be the best idea). In fact, on several occasions I attempted to make myself useful, assisting in the relocating of cameras around the studio by holding up cables and kicking various wires out the way. I considered creating a new role for myself; Lead and Cable Manager, but it would seem that the Camera Assistants, as well as preparing every camera, autocue and lens first thing in the morning, have pretty much got the situation under control.

The Let's Do Lunch with Gino and Mel set during filming

So sadly, it seems that my cable organising career is for now on hold, but my day in the studios was an amazing experience. I even got a glimpse of the last 20 minutes of Let's Do Lunch with Gino and Mel which was strangely hilarious and of course, I couldn’t leave without a photo with the Silver Fox himself. Nice one Phillip!

The Silver Fox himself. What a gent.

 For information on how to be in the audience for shows at The London Studios, click here.